[OVERVIEW]
Ground
========
Excadrill is an unrivaled Sand Rush sweeper on Ground teams as a result of its outstanding Attack stat and good offensive typing. Sand Rush lets Excadrill outpace +1 base 110s and any unboosted Pokemon in sand, allowing it to check many offensive threats to Ground with its coverage such as Keldeo, Mega Gallade, Latios, Deoxys-S, and Weavile. Its Steel typing allows Excadrill to potentially come in on certain moves from threats, such as Grass Knot and Hidden Power Ice from Thundurus and Heliolisk and a predicted Toxic from Zapdos. Excadrill's low Speed stat along with its poor bulk makes it subject to revenge killing outside of sand. Getting it in after setting sand may also prove to be troublesome in some scenarios. In sand, its lackluster bulk leaves it open to priority moves like Mach Punch from Breloom and Sucker Punch from Bisharp.
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Shadow Claw / X-Scissor
item: Choice Band
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Earthquake is Excadrill's most powerful STAB move, and it becomes highly spammable after eliminating Ground-immune foes like Rotom-W and Staraptor. Iron Head lets Excadrill pick up KOs against Pokemon that resist or are immune to Earthquake such as Heracross and Gengar, and it targets Ice-, Fairy-, and Rock-types like Weavile, Togekiss, and Terrakion without having to lock into Earthquake. Rock Slide hits Flying-types like Zapdos, Thundurus, Mandibuzz, and Mega Charizard Y. Shadow Claw allows Excadrill to dominate against Psychic teams, being able to at least 2HKO every relevant Pokemon with Stealth Rock up outside of Meloetta. X-Scissor is a niche option over Shadow Claw to hit Meloetta and do more damage to Slowbro and Celebi. However, giving up Shadow Claw leads to Excadrill losing momentum against Psychic-types that take neutral damage from X-Scissor like Jirachi, Victini, Mega Gallade, and Mega Gardevoir. Choice Band increases Excadrill's potential as a sweeper and revenge killer, allowing it to net important OHKOs against threats like Kyurem-B, Mega Gallade, and Keldeo after prior chip damage. Maximum Attack and Speed investment with an Adamant nature allows Excadrill to do as much damage as possible and reach a fantastic Speed tier in sand, outpacing the likes of Deoxys-S and Choice Scarf Latias.
Excadrill offers Ground teams its ability to offensively check Ice-types like Weavile and Mamoswine that would inhibit Garchomp and Landorus, function as a switch-in and check to Thundurus, which sweeps through the rest of the team outside of Mamoswine, and check fast offensive Psychic-types with good coverage like Life Orb Deoxys-S and Choice Specs Latios, which would otherwise overwhelm Ground's defensive core. Hippowdon provides indispensable support for Excadrill by setting sand and Stealth Rock and is able to switch into physical attackers like Mega Lopunny and Mega Gallade. Landorus can chip physical walls for Excadrill such as Skarmory, Rotom-W, and Hippowdon. Landorus can also set Gravity for Excadrill, allowing it to spam Earthquake freely, albeit briefly since sand and Gravity won't be up for long. Gastrodon is immune to Water, which proves to be very useful against threats like Keldeo and Kingdra, and can sponge special attacks with its decent bulk, good typing, and reliable recovery. Seismitoad is an alternative Water-immune teammate that has a better Speed tier and offensive movepool, including Sludge Wave for checking Belly Drum Azumarill and Knock Off, which can cripple various foes such as Eviolite holders like Chansey and Porygon2 or Leftovers users like Skarmory and Ferrothorn. Mega Garchomp's mixed wallbreaking proves useful against many common defensive cores, working with Landorus to take out physical and mixed walls, paving the way for Excadrill to sweep. Mega Garchomp is also another Fire-resistant teammate and can check Mega Charizard Y with Stone Edge. Mamoswine can easily threaten bulky Ground-types like Hippowdon, Gliscor, and bulky Garchomp with its Choice Band-boosted Icicle Crash. Additionally, it's the only source of priority on most Ground teams, being able to reliably take out weakened threats like Hydreigon and Yanmega with Ice Shard. Nidoking utilizes its wide array of Life Orb- and Sheer Force-boosted special attacks to break through certain walls for Excadrill, namely Skarmory and Gliscor. Furthermore, Nidoking may drop one of its coverage moves for Toxic Spikes to passively chip some of Excadrill's checks like Slowbro and Porygon2.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Ground
--------
Excadrill can run Rapid Spin as a niche option over Shadow Claw for entry hazard removal. However, setting sand and bringing in Excadrill only to lock into Rapid Spin loses momentum. There aren't many situations where Ground teams desperately need to get rid of entry hazards, and using Rapid Spin over Shadow Claw makes the Psychic matchup considerably worse.
Checks and Counters
===================
Ground
--------
**Skarmory**: Skarmory is able to reliably switch into any of Excadrill's moves as long as Gravity isn't up and recover any negligible damage done with Roost.
**Physically Defensive Walls**: Physical walls like Hippowdon, Rotom-W, Mandibuzz, Slowbro, Swampert, and Porygon2 can all tank at least one hit from Excadrill and threaten it in some way.
**Burn**: Will-O-Wisp users such as Sableye and Mew can burn Excadrill, limiting its potential as a sweeper and revenge killer severely.
**Weather Setters**: Fast weather setters like Mega Charizard Y, assuming it has already Mega Evolved, are able to eliminate Excadrill's Speed advantage by nullifying Sand Rush and can often OHKO it with their STAB moves.
**Revenge Killers**: Fast revenge killers like Keldeo and Victini can outspeed and OHKO Excadrill outside of sand. Trace users like offensive Gardevoir and Mega Alakazam, assuming the latter has already Mega Evolved, are able to outpace Excadrill in sand and OHKO with Focus Blast.
**Priority**: After some chip damage, Excadrill is subject to being taken out before it has a chance to attack by priority moves like Aqua Jet, Mach Punch, and Sucker Punch from Pokemon like Azumarill, Breloom, and Bisharp, respectively.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Cell, 244276]]
- Ground analysis by: [[Cell, 244276]]
- Quality checked by: [[roxiee, 481576], [Izaya, 311872]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429], [Estronic, 240732]]
Ground
========
Excadrill is an unrivaled Sand Rush sweeper on Ground teams as a result of its outstanding Attack stat and good offensive typing. Sand Rush lets Excadrill outpace +1 base 110s and any unboosted Pokemon in sand, allowing it to check many offensive threats to Ground with its coverage such as Keldeo, Mega Gallade, Latios, Deoxys-S, and Weavile. Its Steel typing allows Excadrill to potentially come in on certain moves from threats, such as Grass Knot and Hidden Power Ice from Thundurus and Heliolisk and a predicted Toxic from Zapdos. Excadrill's low Speed stat along with its poor bulk makes it subject to revenge killing outside of sand. Getting it in after setting sand may also prove to be troublesome in some scenarios. In sand, its lackluster bulk leaves it open to priority moves like Mach Punch from Breloom and Sucker Punch from Bisharp.
[SET]
name: Choice Band
move 1: Earthquake
move 2: Iron Head
move 3: Rock Slide
move 4: Shadow Claw / X-Scissor
item: Choice Band
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant
evs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Earthquake is Excadrill's most powerful STAB move, and it becomes highly spammable after eliminating Ground-immune foes like Rotom-W and Staraptor. Iron Head lets Excadrill pick up KOs against Pokemon that resist or are immune to Earthquake such as Heracross and Gengar, and it targets Ice-, Fairy-, and Rock-types like Weavile, Togekiss, and Terrakion without having to lock into Earthquake. Rock Slide hits Flying-types like Zapdos, Thundurus, Mandibuzz, and Mega Charizard Y. Shadow Claw allows Excadrill to dominate against Psychic teams, being able to at least 2HKO every relevant Pokemon with Stealth Rock up outside of Meloetta. X-Scissor is a niche option over Shadow Claw to hit Meloetta and do more damage to Slowbro and Celebi. However, giving up Shadow Claw leads to Excadrill losing momentum against Psychic-types that take neutral damage from X-Scissor like Jirachi, Victini, Mega Gallade, and Mega Gardevoir. Choice Band increases Excadrill's potential as a sweeper and revenge killer, allowing it to net important OHKOs against threats like Kyurem-B, Mega Gallade, and Keldeo after prior chip damage. Maximum Attack and Speed investment with an Adamant nature allows Excadrill to do as much damage as possible and reach a fantastic Speed tier in sand, outpacing the likes of Deoxys-S and Choice Scarf Latias.
Excadrill offers Ground teams its ability to offensively check Ice-types like Weavile and Mamoswine that would inhibit Garchomp and Landorus, function as a switch-in and check to Thundurus, which sweeps through the rest of the team outside of Mamoswine, and check fast offensive Psychic-types with good coverage like Life Orb Deoxys-S and Choice Specs Latios, which would otherwise overwhelm Ground's defensive core. Hippowdon provides indispensable support for Excadrill by setting sand and Stealth Rock and is able to switch into physical attackers like Mega Lopunny and Mega Gallade. Landorus can chip physical walls for Excadrill such as Skarmory, Rotom-W, and Hippowdon. Landorus can also set Gravity for Excadrill, allowing it to spam Earthquake freely, albeit briefly since sand and Gravity won't be up for long. Gastrodon is immune to Water, which proves to be very useful against threats like Keldeo and Kingdra, and can sponge special attacks with its decent bulk, good typing, and reliable recovery. Seismitoad is an alternative Water-immune teammate that has a better Speed tier and offensive movepool, including Sludge Wave for checking Belly Drum Azumarill and Knock Off, which can cripple various foes such as Eviolite holders like Chansey and Porygon2 or Leftovers users like Skarmory and Ferrothorn. Mega Garchomp's mixed wallbreaking proves useful against many common defensive cores, working with Landorus to take out physical and mixed walls, paving the way for Excadrill to sweep. Mega Garchomp is also another Fire-resistant teammate and can check Mega Charizard Y with Stone Edge. Mamoswine can easily threaten bulky Ground-types like Hippowdon, Gliscor, and bulky Garchomp with its Choice Band-boosted Icicle Crash. Additionally, it's the only source of priority on most Ground teams, being able to reliably take out weakened threats like Hydreigon and Yanmega with Ice Shard. Nidoking utilizes its wide array of Life Orb- and Sheer Force-boosted special attacks to break through certain walls for Excadrill, namely Skarmory and Gliscor. Furthermore, Nidoking may drop one of its coverage moves for Toxic Spikes to passively chip some of Excadrill's checks like Slowbro and Porygon2.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Ground
--------
Excadrill can run Rapid Spin as a niche option over Shadow Claw for entry hazard removal. However, setting sand and bringing in Excadrill only to lock into Rapid Spin loses momentum. There aren't many situations where Ground teams desperately need to get rid of entry hazards, and using Rapid Spin over Shadow Claw makes the Psychic matchup considerably worse.
Checks and Counters
===================
Ground
--------
**Skarmory**: Skarmory is able to reliably switch into any of Excadrill's moves as long as Gravity isn't up and recover any negligible damage done with Roost.
**Physically Defensive Walls**: Physical walls like Hippowdon, Rotom-W, Mandibuzz, Slowbro, Swampert, and Porygon2 can all tank at least one hit from Excadrill and threaten it in some way.
**Burn**: Will-O-Wisp users such as Sableye and Mew can burn Excadrill, limiting its potential as a sweeper and revenge killer severely.
**Weather Setters**: Fast weather setters like Mega Charizard Y, assuming it has already Mega Evolved, are able to eliminate Excadrill's Speed advantage by nullifying Sand Rush and can often OHKO it with their STAB moves.
**Revenge Killers**: Fast revenge killers like Keldeo and Victini can outspeed and OHKO Excadrill outside of sand. Trace users like offensive Gardevoir and Mega Alakazam, assuming the latter has already Mega Evolved, are able to outpace Excadrill in sand and OHKO with Focus Blast.
**Priority**: After some chip damage, Excadrill is subject to being taken out before it has a chance to attack by priority moves like Aqua Jet, Mach Punch, and Sucker Punch from Pokemon like Azumarill, Breloom, and Bisharp, respectively.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Cell, 244276]]
- Ground analysis by: [[Cell, 244276]]
- Quality checked by: [[roxiee, 481576], [Izaya, 311872]]
- Grammar checked by: [[Finland, 517429], [Estronic, 240732]]
Last edited:
